Enter any pub and you’re likely to find at least one regular gasping for a pint. But visitors to one town centre hostelry will be gasping not for beer – instead they’ll be after a nice cup of tea.

The Retreat, in St John’s Street, is launching an art exhibition featuring work devoted to the nation’s favourite brew, all created by a local artist.

Jo Quinn’s Gasping has turned tea into an artform and her pictures are on display in the pub.

Her drypoint and chine collé prints are musings on the aesthetics of everyday objects, in particular teapots and jugs and all things to be found in any of our kitchens.

“She has transformed them from the mundane into beautiful,” says Anne-Marie Carroll, who curates the exhibitions in The Retreat.

“The small scale of Jo’s work allows her pictures to become objects of pleasure housed, as they are, in unique frames and for this show only, at uniquely low prices.”

Jo’s work is a familiar sight to readers of a range of popular publications, including The Guardian, The Sunday Times, Elle Decoration amd Women & Home. She is also a member of the Whiteknights Studio Trail and curates exhibitions at The Peacock Gallery.

The exhibition is open from 4.30pm to 11pm on Mondays to Thursdays, from noon to11.30pm on Fridays and Saturdays and from Noon to 11pm on Sundays.